A quick, cheap way to improve transit service

Maybe you’ve heard about a nifty new advance in planning transit rides from Google Maps. The site already helps users plan trips by bus and light rail ­– and makes it easy to compare the estimate times of transit-riding, driving, cycling and walking.

Now Google Maps for mobile and desktop let users find out when their ride is actually going to arrive via real-time transit updates. So far it’s available only in Boston, Portland, Ore., San Diego, San Francisco, Madrid and Turin. As someone who’s spent plenty of time waiting at bus stops and wondering if I’ve just missed a bus or if it’s running a few minutes behind schedule, I can’t wait to see this service expanded elsewhere.

Here’s why this matters: There’s a compelling policy argument that this is the ideal time for the nation to invest whole-hog in building out infrastructure projects, given high unemployment in the building sectors, historically low prices for materials and a scandalously large list of overdue projects (see Ezra Klein or Fareed Zakaria on this).

But even if we could muster the political will, building new transit networks takes time. By contrast, there are loads of quick, cheap and easy ways to make riding buses and light rail a more convenient experience. One of those is providing information on when the next ride will arrive. I recently spent time in Germany, where electronic signboards at bus stops tell riders exactly when the next bus is running – no more wondering if it’ll be 2 or 20 minutes.

Such incremental improvements are dirt cheap compared to boring new subway tunnels. Google’s new offering is a step in that direction. It’s good to see private companies taking interest in these things, since Congress isn’t. (OneBusAway in Seattle and PDXBus in Portland offer a similar service.)

And lest you think I’m one of those everything-is-better-in-Europe types, here’s a doozy of an article on how Germany’s transportation planners are failing to keep cyclists safe.

Google explains live transit updates: